


Just Some Boy

by theundeadsiren (rhoen)



Category: In the Flesh (TV)
Genre: M/M, Not Yet Friends AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-13 20:08:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2163549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhoen/pseuds/theundeadsiren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick doesn't recognise the guy he sees every weekend when he goes to his martial arts class. Well, why would he? Kieren, who is two years below him, is probably the quietest guy in Roarton Valley High, so it's not surprising Rick doesn't even realise they both go to the same school.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU where Rick hasn't even noticed Kieren goes to the same school as him.  
> I don't even know what this is. Words came out...  
> Ohshitohshitohshitohshit reading over it for mistakes... I don't like it at all... I was gonna ask if I should write them becoming friends/getting together, but now... Oh gods...  
> And I've already written Kieren's POV.  
> *sad whining noises*

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Thank you for respecting my wishes

* * *

 

He doesn’t know this boy. He feels like he should, but just can't place him. Rick sees him every Saturday, without fail; he always sits in the same spot on the floor by the swimming pool viewing area, his back against the brick wall just to the side of the glass. Sometimes he’s curled over a notepad, other times he sits twisted round to quietly watch the activity in the pool while parents chatter above him, but he’s always alone. Rick can’t tell who his mum or dad is. The boy seems comfortable on the floor, even though he doesn’t really have to sit there – there are a few seats set aside in the corridor. Most of the adults seem happy to stand after the drive it took them to get there, although one or two do sit. This boy seems to want to keep out of everyone’s way.

It’s a small community centre, shared with the high school building, and the pool’s viewing window is in the same corridor as the gym changing rooms. Rick has to walk past the soft chatter and warm, chlorinated air to reach the men’s changing room. At the far end are the double doors that lead to the sports hall – a chilly cavern of a room not much bigger than a basketball court, where Rick does martial art on Saturdays.

He always finds himself glancing down at the boy – who he guesses to be around his own age – as he walks past. Sometimes, if his nose isn’t buried in his sketchbook, the boy will glance up at him. Rick hurriedly looks away though, not wanting to get caught looking. He'll focus intently on the floor in front of his own feet until he’s safely behind the changing room door.

His class starts at the same time the swimming lessons end, so although most of parents – siblings in tow – have left to wait for their son or daughter directly outside the swimming pool changing rooms, the boy is still sitting there, waiting patiently. As he leaves the changing room, Rick always tells himself not to look in the other boy’s direction, but does anyway. If he’s lucky, he will be focused on the pen and paper in his hands, or still be watching whatever was going on in the pool. If he is looking, Rick tries to appear as bored and uninterested in what he sees as possible, focusing on a point beyond the boy for a moment, before turning and walking towards the gym doors. He tells himself that he’s in no way disconcerted by the gaze he imagines to be fixed on his back.

Today he somehow manages not to look towards the other boy. He’s busy tugging at a thread on his top that has come loose. He stops just a step outside the changing room to try and sort it. He breaks it off, letting it fall to the ground, and habitually glances towards the top of the corridor. He freezes. They boy is looking directly at him.

There’s a strange sense that they’ve both been caught doing something they shouldn’t, although he’s not quite sure why. Neither of them look away though. He’s not sure how long he stands there staring before he manages a tentative smile and watches, still stunned, as it’s returned. Despite the smile, he boy looks just as shell-shocked as Rick feels.

Behind him, the changing room door opens and he jumps, remembering himself. He quickly turns away, heading to the gym. At the door he pauses again, holding it open for his classmate behind him. Before following the guy though, he glances back, and for a fraction of a second catches the expression the boy sitting in the corridor gives him.

He thinks about that look for a long, long time afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My gods, why did I even post this? *sobs*


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kieren's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any mistakes. You can probably tell all my stuff is un-beta'd. You people are amazing for putting up with this, I swear.
> 
> In this, Rick's 15, Ren's gonna turn 14 in a month, and Jem's 9. Not that it matters, I just like to have info like that sorted in my mind when writing.

He looks right through him. He never sees him. Kieren’s thoughts are screaming. He can tell from the look on Rick’s face every time he walks past him that Rick doesn’t even recognise him. He barely even knows he’s there.

Kieren tries to look up when the older teen walks past, but sometimes the back of his neck is so stiff with nerves he can’t even raise his head, and if he does it creaks and jars awkwardly. It’s only marginally easier to turn his head to the side if he’s sitting watching Jem in the pool. Every week without fail he feels the older guy’s disinterested gaze sweeping over him as he heads towards the changing rooms. He hates that feeling. He hates being next to invisible and dismissively looked down on. He wishes that, even just once, his existence would be acknowledged. He’s not sure why he cares though. He really shouldn’t.

Kieren doesn’t believe for one second that there’s a student at school who doesn’t know who Rick is. Rick Macy: model sports student, popular guy and the all-round ‘nice’ kind of person you wish you could be, or be with. Kieren resents the fact that he sometimes looks at Rick and wishes he could know what it’s like to be him. Kieren’s never been popular, he has only one good friend, he’s not particularly attractive and he’s very much an average student in all his subjects apart from art, which he excels at. He might do passably okay at PE, but he hates the class, he hates the teacher and he hates how exposed he feels in his PE kit. No one would ever say he looks good in it, not like they would with Rick.

Kieren reminds himself he doesn’t need things like that. He’s not shallow. He can’t see Rick being able to sit still for hours on end and be content with just a sketchpad – or even a book – and his own thoughts to pass the time. And so what if Kieren only has one friend? It’s a friendship that means a lot to him. He bets Rick doesn’t have a good friend like that. Actually, he wonders if Rick even needs one. He doubts there’s anything in Rick’s life that isn’t perfect.

But still, he hopes. Sitting there every Saturday, a small part of him wishes Rick would notice his existence and not glance over him as if he were a part of the brickwork. He dismisses it as a part of himself that resents the fact that the world made him an outsider. Not being one of the popular in-crowd just means he’s not boring and shallow, yet nearly every week Kieren’s focus shifts to the closed changing room door once Rick has disappeared through it. The only word he can find for what he feels as he gazes after the older teen is a strange sort of longing. The fact that Rick only ever glances at him, barely even seeing that he’s there, makes Kieren feel a sadness he can’t explain. He can’t help but feel that these emotions make him shallow too.

It must be close to the end of Jem’s lesson; out the corner of his eye he spots a familiar pair trainers at the top of the corridor. For about ten minutes now, Kieren had just been absentmindedly staring at the sketch he’d been working on, his thoughts elsewhere, but now they focused sharply on the feet walking past him and the way the air shifts as Rick walks by. He can almost feel the dismissive, probably contemptuous, glance. He doesn’t dare look up. Seconds later, he hears the sound of the changing room door further down the corridor being pushed open, and when it finally clicks shut again, he exhales as the tension leaves his body. He doesn’t understand why he reacts this way. It’s just Rick. It’s just some inconsequential popular guy who has no bearing on his life whatsoever. He looks towards the closed door, trying to understand why he’s even thinking about the guy behind it.

The lesson must be finishing. Some parents start moving away, but Kieren stays where he is. Jem takes ages getting changed, so there’s no rush. He just sits and waits, barely even realising the direction he’s staring off into. Rick seems to be running late today. When he finally exits the changing rooms, he’s busy fretting with something on his white martial arts top – Kieren doesn’t know what the proper name for it is. He takes in Rick’s profile, wondering what it is about the sandy-haired, tall sporty guy that makes him even care if Rick notices him. He’s staring so vacantly it takes him a second to realise he’s been caught looking.

He freezes, heart skipping a beat. Rick’s looking at him; he’s actually looking right at him, face lax with surprise. Kieren should look away before Rick’s expression changes to anger or annoyance, but he’s completely stunned. Rick doesn’t look away either.

For several seconds they’re frozen like that, and then the strangest thing happens; Rick smiles at him.

Warm fire floods Kieren’s body and he’s paralysed by the confusion and elation of it. He wonders if Rick thinks he’s someone else, but he knows that can’t be the case. This smile is for him. As his mind catches up to that fact, he manages to reciprocate. The smile has barely settled with any certainty on his lips before the sound of the changing room door opening brings him forcefully back to reality. He hastily looks away, focusing on the floor. He listens intently as bare feet tread softly towards the gym. He braves a glance up again when he hears the door creaking open. Rick is holding it for the other boy, and before he follows him through, he gives one final look in Kieren’s direction. His eyes only catch Kieren’s fleetingly, but he can detect no malice or annoyance in that look, only a sense of surprise, as if Rick is amazed to discover Kieren actually exists.

And then Rick’s gone. Kieren is left staring after the closing door, his thoughts and feelings thrown into turmoil. He struggles with the aftermath, feeling as breathless as if he has just run a mile. Dragging his focus back to the notebook in his lap, he tries to concentrate and calm himself. Behind him, his mum is still chattering away. She hasn’t noticed a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More? Less?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick's still trying to work out who the boy from the corridor is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can probably tell how rushed this is... Ely said 'more' though, so here more is! ^_^

Rick thinks a lot about the boy, and that look he'd had on his face. It strikes him as ridiculous that he doesn’t know his name – they probably go to the same school. They’re definitely not in the same year though, he’s sure he’d remember him. Roarton Valley High isn’t really that big – it’s easy to know everyone in your year. He eliminates the possibility that this boy is home schooled – he asks his mum as casually as he can if she knows of anyone around Roarton that is home schooled (she doesn’t). The idea of not getting to go to classes with his mates and hang round at lunch is just too bizarre to Rick, but the Saturday boy seems like someone who would like that kind of thing. He seems so shy. Rick wonders what would happen if he just walked up to him and struck up a conversation.

The idea of actually talking to the boy is something Rick thinks over far too much the next day, and it’s a dilemma that even follows him into his dreams. He wakes for school on Monday morning with a strange, unfulfilled feeling and, after rushing to get dressed and shovel down his breakfast, he finds parts of his dream coming back to him on the way to school. It’s a strange mix of warmth and confusion, and he tries to assemble all the pieces in his mind. In the dream, he and the boy were in the gym corridor, the boy curled up as always, scratching at his sketchbook. Rick was drawn towards him – it was important he got him to share the combination code to the PE changing rooms (which have never had a combination lock, only an old-fashioned key the PE teacher uses to secure the room once everyone’s ready for class), but Rick couldn’t get his mouth to work. The boy didn’t even notice he was there – he just kept drawing, not even glancing up. Starting to feel desperate, Rick had tried everything to get the boy’s attention, but nothing worked. He was invisible to him. Rick had hated that feeling in his dream, and he hates remembering it now.

He tries looking for the boy, but he can’t find him. Rick realises he’s paying an uncharacteristic interest in his surroundings, constantly hoping to see him in the corridor between classes, or in the canteen at lunch. He doesn’t, though, and as the week draws on it starts to weigh on him. Maybe he goes to a different school, and is only in Roarton on weekends because they visit grandparents here, or maybe Rick’s mum was wrong and this boy is actually home schooled…

The worst thing is, he doesn’t know why it’s bothering him. It didn’t before. Rick can’t understand himself – it was just a look. He’s walked past the boy tons of times without feeling this great a need to find out who he is. But then again, they’d never actually made eye contact before. Rick hadn’t seen him smile before. Remembering that smile and that look on his face makes something inside Rick’s chest tighten. It was a strange, and not entirely unpleasant, feeling. He wants to see that smile again. He wants to know the name it belonged to.

Every time he thinks about the boy and feels himself becoming despondent, Rick reminds himself it will be the weekend soon. When it’s finally Friday, he’s still no closer to finding out who this boy is, but the disappointment doesn’t even make a dent in his mood.

Tomorrow is Saturday.

He’s looking forward to those few seconds he walks down that corridor more than he’s looked forward to anything in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to get these two to go the least angsty way. If you're hoping for angst, not fluff (I never quite manage full fluff...), speak now or forever hold your peace >:D


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Kieren's POV]
> 
> Kieren wasn't avoiding him, it's just that they never usually cross paths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short, sorry :/
> 
> And sorry for the delay in writing anything for this. I've kinda been distracted by an RP...

Kieren’s not particularly antisocial or anything, he just prefers to keep out of the way of everyone else. He has a sort-of friendship with Philip, something that came about because they were the two outsiders in their year that didn’t fit into any of the groups that formed when they started high school. He supposes they’re friends now. Kieren likes Philip, even if he’s sometimes intolerably narrow-minded and pernickety, and they seem to complement each other in a strange sort of way. Usually, at break, they hunker down in the space between one of the stairwells and sit there on the floor eating their snacks, maybe sharing notes, until it’s time for class again. At lunch they sit together. Philip is usually the one who save Kieren a seat, as his mum gave him packed lunches, whereas Kieren usually had school dinners. They sit together and talk and eat, until the library is open. They spend the rest of the lunch break there, Philip with his books, Kieren with his sketchpad.

He hasn’t seen Rick at school all week. It isn’t unusual, or because Kieren is trying to avoid him; their timetables and habits make it unsurprising they very rarely cross paths. Rick is one of the guys who goes down the street for his lunch, probably go get something from the butchers or the newsagents. Very rarely Kieren and Philip leave school grounds to go and spend whatever money they have on sweets, but they don’t make a habit of it, and they don’t do it at all this week. Kieren almost hopes to see Rick as he walks between classes or sits in the canteen, but he knows it’s unlikely, and he doubts Rick would recognise him anyway, not with his uniform on. What good would seeing him do anyway? Kieren already knew what he looked like. It’s not like they’d have a conversation or anything.

He did think about him a lot, though – a lot more than usual – and about the way Rick had smiled at him. He routinely dismissed the idea that it had held any meaning – Rick was the kinda easy-going guy who could smile at anyone and charm his way out of (or into, Kieren bet) anything – but for some reason he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He had to remind himself that, until Saturday, Rick hadn't even looked at him properly before. There was no way he gave any consideration to some quiet boy he just so happened to realise occupied the same corridor he walked down every Saturday to his martial arts class. So, as always, Kieren did nothing about the fact he's interested in Rick. He doesn't change his routine or linger any longer than he has to in the hallways, trying to learn which classrooms Rick moves between. He did suggest going down the street on Thursday, but Philip wasn't up for it, and it looked windy anyway, so Kieren just dropped it.

Still, when Kieren thinks about going with his mum and Jem to swimming practice this weekend, he can’t help but hope that Rick will look at him again, and maybe even acknowledge his presence again.


End file.
